Dad Podcast

Posted by Jason Kreidman on November 7, 2017 in Podcast with no comments

You know how I really have a dislike for technology as it relates to kids. According to a Business Insider article, Both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates had very heavy restrictions on their kid’s use of technology and screen time.

Back in 2007, Bill Gates implemented a cap on his daughter’s use when he felt she had an unhealthy attachment to a video game.

Here are a couple of interesting pieces of data from the article:

1) Research has found that an eighth – grader’s risk for depression jumps 27% when he or she frequently uses social media.

2) Kids who use their phones for at least three hours a day are much more likely to be suicidal.

3) The teen suicide rate in the US now eclipses the homicide rate, with smartphones as the driving force.

This article mentions a book by Veteran teachers Joe Clement and Matt Miles called: “Screen Schooled: Two Veteran Teachers Expose How Technology Overuse Is Making Our Kids Dumber”

They show how screen saturation at home and school has created a wide range of cognitive and social deficits in our young people.

They say teachers are often powerless to curb cell phone distractions; zoned-out kids who act helpless and are unfocused, unprepared, and unsocial.

Discuss Gary Vee and how we romanticize the “old way” of doing things.

I think it’s important to look at both sides. Are kids losing in some areas and then gaining in others? Of course, depression and suicide are serious issues. I think we also need to separate social media with the use of technology. Gaming is one area while social media is another.